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Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi. Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi (approx 800-847 CE) Born around 800 CE in Khwarizm , now in Uzbekistan . Al-Khw a rizm i lived in Baghdad , where he worked at the “House of Wisdom” ( D a r al- H ikma ) under the Caliph Harun al-Rashid.
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Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi • Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi (approx 800-847 CE) • Born around 800 CE in Khwarizm, now in Uzbekistan. • Al-Khwarizmi lived in Baghdad, where he worked at the “House of Wisdom” (Dar al-Hikma) under the Caliph Harun al-Rashid. • What is the origin of the word Algorithm?
Algorithm • The English word "algorithm" derives from the Latin form of al-Khwarizmi's name. • He developed the concept of an algorithm in mathematics, and is thus sometimes given the title of "grandfather of computer science".
Some Contributions • Wrote a book in Arabic titled al-jabr that gave Algebra its name • arithmetic of variables • describes the natural numbers • introduces geometric proofs for algebra • Al-Khwarizmi called variables “shay” • Arabic for “thing”. Spanish wrote xay (“x” was “sh” in Spain). • In time this word was abbreviated as x. • In addition to this treatise, al-Khwarizmi wrote works on astronomy, on the Jewish calendar, and on the Hindu numeration system. • He also made major contributions to the fields of algebra, trigonometry, astronomy, geography and cartography.
Sources • http://www.pbs.org/empires/islam/ • http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Al-Khwarizmi.html • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Khwarizmi